The Trek III.

In the wonderful "Little Apple" Robin and I were fortunate enough to stay with Kate, Megan's childhood friend, who attends the amazing Kansas State in Manhattan! We were welcomed in and given a good tour of the place. We loved it! Thanks, Kate! (Oh, and thanks Harry for being on your best behavior!!!)

Robin and I were pretty stoked to get on the road again. We knew we had about 7 hours to get to Boulder, but we were knew that as soon as we finally saw some mountains, we would be able to keep going forever! Unfortunately, mountains apparently don't like to be found. It was a lot of REALLY boring driving. Like for real. Ruhl boring. We filled up the tank and got on our way. At some point Robin was like "let's just keep going until this tank runs out, then we'll stop for food/bathroom." Ya, easy for her to say, she was sitting in the passenger seat. But I put on cruise control (set at about 70-75 mph) and hardly had to move the steering wheel for the next 245ish miles. It was a little ridiculous. I relinquished my driving duties after that until we were in Boulder safe and sound. We saw a wind farm, which is actually pretty cool to see. When you get up close (or drive closely) to the windmills you realize that they are HUGE. Gianormous. Someone said that it takes an entire tracker trailer just to carry one of the fan blades. Big.















At some point, we finally managed to cross into Colorado. We were hoping for mountains, but we didn't hold our breath. Unfortunately, it was also a cloudy day. When we finally stopped, we were at a gas station. I had already gone to the bathroom at the Arby's where we had stopped, but Robin ran in again. She came jogging back out laughing and said that I had to bring my camera in, there was an amazing photo-op inside that we HAD to take advantage of..."HUG ME PLEASE welcome to Colorado." Love it.

The Trek, Part II

Day 2 Origin: St. Louis, MO Destination: Manhattan, KS (the little apple)

We woke up a little later than expected--we knew that our drive wasn't going to be too severe, so we allowed ourselves a little extra sleep. We also woke up and ended up having great conversation with Kim over bagels and tea, which was wonderful:) Thanks again!!! Once we made it out of the house, we headed straight back for the city to The Gateway to the West!

 

The sky was awesome, though a little ominous. We decided to take the trip up the arch anyway, I mean, it's the largest national monument in the US! Strong, durable (for at least the past 50 years...) we thought we could go up in the small elevator and enjoy the view from the top. But first we took a few artsy shots from outside. This thing was huge and cool.

The elevator things that we rode up in were small--as Robin bought tickets for us the guide asked if we were afraid of heights or claustrophobic, she replied no. He asked if I was, since I was standing a little ways back. She again replied no. He said that she should probably check with me because it was a big deal. Robin finally yelled to me and I confirmed my fearlessness, but his insistence made both of us a little weary--was this a scary ride? I remind myself of a pauper's son in England (or my idea of such a person) in this picture in the potentially claustrophobia-inducing, tiny, ovular elevator. The view was breath-taking and overwhelming. We watched a lightning storm in the distance--and even got to track it move across several miles. The view and ride were overall enjoyable, however, as the storm came closer to where we were the arch began to sway. It wasn't something you could see, you could simply feel it when you tried to stand still in one place. Once I pointed this out to Robin, we both began to feel a little uneasy. I also overheard a conversation that the storm was headed our way, and we decided we wanted to get out before we got caught having to drive through rough weather. 

Outside it was raining and we had to make a run for the car--down a huge flight of stairs. We had parked down on the street next to the mighty Mississippi River. I suddenly realized, as we were running back, that the mighty river was awful high--in fact it was flooding into the street at some places! I commented on this to a native and he simply stated that this happened on a regular basis...what we would've given to have such water in Athens last fall!

Robin and I up in the arch...

We drove out of the city in a hurry--racing the storm. We managed to outrun it fairly quickly. We continued on into Kansas and were welcomed with rolling hills and beautiful scenery. Then we happened upon Columbia right around lunch time. We decided that we should stop and see about this Mizzou campus. Earlier in our ultimate season we were scheduled to attend a tournament here. We had ensured our team that the drive was only 12 hours...it was a solid 12 if not more from Alpharetta. We decided not to go to this tournament at the last minute because of doubt from the team as well as unfortunate weather predictions. In the end, I think that decision was a good one. It was a looong drive and it snowed during the tournament and they had to play on turf fields. We're from the south, you want us to play in snow?! The campus was very well-manicured and beautiful in May. We also thoroughly enjoyed the town and the organic juice cafe at which we ate a delicious, healthful meal. 

Back in the car, we nearly ran out of daylight on our approach to Manhattan, KS. Turns out we had taken our sweet time getting to our destination. But the sky was amazing! We laughed about the Little Apple that we would be visiting that evening--but it turned out to be a fantastic experience. Our host, Kate Dillon, a student at Kansas State, and a close, childhood friend of my girlfriend, graciously welcomed us and took us to get dinner and drinks. Then we took a nice tour of the Little Apple that included bits of the Kansas State campus. We also got our full of her lovely dog, Harry. Pictures of him will appear in Day 3's post.

The Trek.

It all began just a few days following a hot and steamy graduation day in Athens, GA. Family came into town only to bid me a farewell for the usual months that pass between visits. However, this goodbye felt a little different. Why does it seem that traveling across the country makes one's life more dangerous and open to disaster? Well, I think we could reference back to early travels across the country from East to West that encouraged seekers of new and distant lands to make a lengthy, often life-threatening journey. The journey that I made only briefly threatened my personal sanity. (The picture is on Graduation Day at the University of Georgia with Sarah Baker and me sitting in our nice black attire between the hedges at Sanford Stadium).

The Trek began May 12th only hours after Mother's Day. This is not the gift that many women of children wish to receive on such a holiday, however, my muu-muu, the name I use to affectionately refer to Mrs. Terri Manley, took it mostly in stride. (right?) My best friend from this last year at college and my co-captain of my final season as a Hodawg, Robin Wertheim, joined me as my co-pilot. We went to breakfast Monday morning with my Father and his employees, Aaron and Kelli, as well as my muu-muu, and my grandparents. After the delectable meal that J Christopher's had to offer, the journey was to begin. Robin and I said our goodbyes...well, I said my most gut-wrenching goodbyes to my beloved family, in particular, my loving parental units who managed to gracefully support this big move/decision in my life. With tears still on my face, I pulled out of the parking lot, car loaded, map in (Robin's) hand. 

DAY 1     Origin: Alpharetta, GA      Destination: St. Louis, MO

I tearfully began our drive on that first fateful day. We meandered through some back roads that I hardly remember even seeing as I quelled the anxious excitement rising in my belly. We made it to I-75 unscathed. The drive along I-75 N isn't really all that exciting, in case you haven't ever 

traveled it before. It's beautiful through Tennessee and the green mountains, but that soon fades into Kentucky boringness. So this picture kind of sums up what we were looking at for some of this part of the ride. I think that I would be much more fascinated by the beauty of this area if I were not from the south, however, being as I am (and Robin being included in this as well) we didn't take too many photos of the surrounding area. The Altima, my vehicle of travel, started the trip with a wonderful tune up to the tune (hehe) of $550. Though I was chastised by my cousin, Colby, with his expertise in this area, the Altima managed VERY well throughout the entire trip. 

The Trek continued through Kentucky and up into Illinois. Robin and I managed to throw a disc in EVERY state. In Illinois, we had to throw in the car since we didn't actually make any stops. [Pictured]

We finally made it into Missouri and into the city of St. Louis as the sun was headed down. Robin was uber excited about seeing the St. Louis arch, "it's the Gateway to the West after all," she said, "You HAVE to visit it before you move out West." We both figured that we should check it out. As we drove through the city on to Webster Groves, where we would be staying that evening, we drove right past the arch and couldn't help but oooh and ahh and take a few snapshots. 

We were staying that evening with my Dad's friend from college, Jim Wolterman, who is also a landscape architect. We met at his beautiful home in Webster Groves. The house was built in 1904. It was amazing. Jim, his wife, Kim, and their daughter, Katie, immediately invited us in and took us to dinner! (They had been without power for the last 33 hours and just got it back about 30 mins before we arrived.)

We thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality! We went to an excellent dinner and I enjoyed a nice beverage. Then we were stuffed to the brims by stopping in at the famous Ted Drews frozen custard stand. Custard=amazing. Love the texture, love the taste. We had a wonderful night there and looked forward to sleeping in a bit before heading back to the St. Louis arch the next morning!